Cleveland’s Mayor Blowing Cleveland’s Bucks

Led by Mayor Frank Jackson (a member of Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns), the City of Cleveland has enacted an ordinance compelling lawful gun owners to register their firearms and report private sales and lost or stolen guns (FTF, 4.22.15).

Reaction from local firearms owners was swift: Ohioans For Concealed Carry immediately filed suit against the city.

Ohio standardizes firearms law across the state and pre-empts stricter measures by local communities. The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed this law twice, in actions brought against the City of Clyde and the City of Cleveland ... both by Ohioans For Concealed Carry.

Apparently, Jackson thinks Cleveland doesn’t have a better use for tax dollars than to blow them defending unlawful actions against lawful gun owners.

Sheriff Clarke Rides To The Rescue In Milwaukee

On Monday, Milwaukee Mayor (and founding member of Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns) Tom Barrett called a press conference to blame the city’s growing homicide rate on the state Assembly and Gov. Scott Walker, who signed concealed carry into law. Despite Barrett’s claims that the uptick is a result of “more guns on the streets,” Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke knows better.

In an interview with WND, Clarke pointed out that while murders this year are double what they were this time last year, last year’s murder rate was down 14 percent from 2013. As Clarke pointed out, Barrett never mentioned the possibility that last year’s decrease was due to a rising number of guns on the streets. But with murders in the city peaking at 163 in 1991 and dropping steadily ever since—while gun ownership has continued to grow—it’s easy to see Barrett’s claims are mere sleight of hand. “Neither one of them [Barrett or Police Chief Ed Flynn] have a strategy to reduce crime, by the way,” Sheriff Clarke said. “So gun control [is] a convenient straw man they can use.”

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin Claims Gun Control “Makes Sense Now”

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.V., who led the fight in 2013 to impose so-called “universal background checks” on all firearm transfers—along with the gun registration regime that the Obama administration admitted such a scheme would require—told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday that his schemes “made sense” in 2013 and “make sense now.”

But as A.W.R. Hawkins pointed out, Manchin’s anti-gun proposals don’t make sense from a political or public-policy standpoint. First, the Manchin-Toomey bill wouldn't have prevented the crimes they cited as its justification—as Manchin publicly admitted—since Adam Lanza stole the firearms he used at Sandy Hook, and since many mass shooters either pass background checks or obtain their firearms through illegal channels. And second, while the scheme can’t stop the vast majority of armed criminals, who obtain firearms illegally, it does criminalize honest, innocent and harmless transfers of firearms between law-abiding people.

Wisconsin Senate Targets Waiting Period

With their state being but one of eight in the U.S. that requires a 48-hour waiting period to purchase a handgun, Wisconsin senators on Tuesday voted to amend that antiquated law. The state Senate approved Senate Bill 35, a proposal that would allow handgun buyers to take possession of the firearm as soon as the background check has been completed, which is typically within hours. The bill will now be sent to the Assembly.

Proposed by Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, the bill is long overdue and is supported by Gov. Scott Walker, as well as many in law enforcement. “Why delay a law-abiding citizen the right to exercise their Second Amendment right to purchase a handgun?” asked Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.

No Pass For Buck (Though Gregory Got One)

Colorado Sen. Ken Buck tweeted a picture of himself and Sen. Trey Gowdy in his office with an American flag-themed AR-15. As AR-15s are banned by the District of Columbia, a left-wing Colorado blog cried foul, and the D.C. Attorney General’s office sent the photo to the Metropolitan Police Department to investigate.

But the U.S. Capitol Police, who are charged with protecting Congress, were not impressed. They had given Buck permission to bring the cased, inoperable rifle into his office, in accordance with published Capitol Police regulations. Seems Buck is more familiar with D.C. firearms law than the AG’s office.

Contrast this with 2013, when NBC’s David Gregory displayed a banned 30-round magazine on “Meet The Press” (which is not covered by the exemptions due Congress), despite warnings from Metro Police. Metro Police then requested an arrest warrant, but the AG’s office declined to bring charges against Gregory.

Michigan Church Carry Dispute

An Ann Arbor, Mich., Catholic priest’s plan to protect his parishioners by having them carry concealed handguns to church is already being scuttled before the idea was even implemented. According to Breitbart.com, Edward Fride recently sent a letter to his flock warning them that the right solution to rising crime is not only to believe in God, but also to carry a firearm. He even offered concealed pistol license classes at the church.

However, Lansing Catholic Bishop Earl Boyea is pushing back strongly against the sensible idea. Boyea said he “has never given permission for anyone to carry a concealed weapon in a church or school in the Diocese of Lansing.” Moreover, he believes, “CPL classes are inappropriate activities to be held on church property.”

Felony Charge For Man Who Attacked Armed Shopper

20-year-old Trevor Zumwalt was charged with felony assault after he allegedly attacked shopper Brandon Walker with a baseball bat inside a Yakima, Wash., Wal-Mart. Walker, who was openly (and legally) carrying a SIG Sauer P226, was struck once before drawing his gun. Once he had the gun out of the holster, he chambered a round and ordered Zumwalt to the ground while store employees summoned police.

It is not clear why Zumwalt targeted the visibly armed Walker: It is possible that he was trying to steal his handgun or was for some reason enraged by the sight of it. One might surmise that he has learned a lesson about attacking armed citizens. And he can credit Walker’s remarkable restraint in a life-or-death situation with the fact that he is still alive to learn it.